Why My Vote Will Go To Modi
For a long time, I dismissed Modi, just like many others, as being utterly divisive. Even today, Modi's detractors hate him because he is "communal".
My views on Modi have, however, changed over the years. In fact, what has changed is how I look at communalism.
I don't see communalism as mere violence against a particular community. To me communalism is anything that negatively affects an individual because he belongs to a particular community/religion/caste/nationality. More importantly, communalism is not just about Muslims. It is also about Sikhs, Hindus, Christians, North-Easterners, etc, etc.
And by that standard, parties such as the Congress, SP and most of the others from the so-called secular brigade are as communal or secular as Modi. However, I will only talk about the Congress here as it is one of the only two options we have for the elections.
The Congress has, for over 60 years, made sure Muslims remain backward, forever dependent on its doles. Their collective backwardness makes them a votebank. The Congress has given them the occasional fish, but never the fishing net - because if the Muslims became an educated, prospering community, the Congress would run out of power.
As far as riots are concerned, the outrage against Modi is selective. After Muzaffarnagar, nobody hounded Akhilesh Yadav for being ‘communal’ ; at most he was called ‘insensitive’. The matter only comes up now with the occasional criticism of Saifai. Nobody even talks about the riots against Christians in Odisha. 1984 and scores of other riots have taken place under the Congress rule, but The Economist still vouches for Rahul Baba and refuses to ‘back’ Modi.
Maybe because Modi refuses to wear a skull cap to prove his secular credentials. He does not indulge in meaningless symbolism and I like that.
There is little doubt that he will be PM in a few months. I will vote for him because I do not want another puppet prime minister (anybody under Congress will end up being one; happy to get rid of Mannu in some time).
I do not think he will incite riots, polarisation or a Hindu backlash. Not because he is secular (I don't know if he is or not) but because it is in his own interest to not let these things happen. Above everything else, Modi is a shrewd politician. He has the people's pulse. His poll campaign, stuff marketing geniuses would dream of, shows he knows exactly what the youth wants. He will do anything but disappoint them.
Modifesto, that was released today, got me excited for a lot of reasons. For once, someone is talking about cleaning the Ganga instead of taking dips in it; he is talking about introducing science and math in madrasas; he is talking about tourism and development in general instead of free rice, farm loan waivers and mindless reservations and subsidies.
I see the reference to Hindutva and Ram temple as just that – a reference. These are meant to decorate only the manifesto. The temple was not built during Vajpayeeji’s time, nor was the country bleeding with riots then. There not happening makes even more political sense now because the times and the electorate have changed drastically since both Babri demolition and 2002. And, Modi knows that.
His supporters continue to amuse me because they project Modi as nothing less than God. But, in hindsight, I see that from Modi’s point of view this vehement support was necessary – to keep his rivals at bay.
I do not want to guess what role Modi may or may not have played in 2002. But, I see that today Modi promises firm leadership and economic development - to each section and every religious community in the country. I am willing to buy what he said in his Patna rally to Hindus and Muslims, “You can either fight among yourselves, or fight poverty”. I am willing to give him one chance.
Using a community for your own gains by not allowing them to grow is no less communal than perpetrating riots. Elections are all about making a choice based on not just the past but also the future. This time I choose Modi, with the hope that he proves his detractors, including myself to a certain extent, wrong.
